Honeymoon in Italy

I would go to Florence or Siena, and take day trips from there. You have enough time to add a few days in Rome or Venice, but not both, IMHO.

Our motto is "Leave the Drinking to Us" and let others do the driving. For our upcoming trip, we are staying in Siena for 4 nights, and have arranged for 3 private tours with this company:

https://www.tuscanescapes.com/

Several years ago, we stayed in Florence and took the small group Chianti tour with Tuscan Trails. It was wonderful.
https://tuscantrails.com/

What time of year will you be there? Really you can't go wrong in Italy, it's a beautiful country and you'll find good food and wine wherever you go. However, the more popular tourist destinations tend to be crowded in July and August, so if you'll be there during those months you might want to choose a more out-of-the-way location.

To start planning, I recommend reading the RS guide to Italy and narrowing down your areas of interest accordingly. To learn more about out-of-the-way places, Lonely Planet is better. Have a look at the list of books here too. https://untolditaly.com/best-travel-book-for-italy/

@epltd

Edited post above. We'll be there in October. Thanks!

hey hey leanneb24
what are your dates for your honeymoon?

the big "must dos" are different for everyone, northern with the lakes and venice, florence and surrounding areas, cinque terre, rome. southern naples and the amalfi coast?
with only 2 weeks, don't push yourself to see "everything:. spend a few days in each place to enjoy it. the days you arrive and depart don't count, jet lag added in, time it takes to move from one place to another takes up at least half day, remember your check in time is about 2pm (ask for early check in, luggage storage until check in) do you want hotel/apt, stay in florence or rome and do day trips.
so much to see and do, give yourself time to sit with a glass of wine and people watch.
ask more questions, people here will give you good bad and ugly, before you confirm everything.
what's your budget, the star (*) system means the amenities hotel has not how 'high class" it is. read fine print and reviews.
happy hunting and happy honeymoon
aloha

Hey princess papule,

We're thinking something like 10/7/2022-10/23/2022. I'm thinking I should definitely read one of RS's books to make a list of our must see places. Is the "best of Italy" book my best bet? Thanks so much for your advice.

Thanks so much for those links Prophet.

You're very welcome! Todd, the man behind Tuscan Trails, is the like the best teacher you ever had - but you can drink wine while he's talking.

Estimated Prophet, haha that sounds great to me!

He takes you to the beautiful winery where the Pazzi Easter Revolt vs. the Medici was planned.

https://lovefromtuscany.com/pazzi-conspiracy/

hey hey leanne
with your dates, it's harvest season and places get busy with wine festivals. few years back, we were in venice for 6 nights before a greek island cruise, customer from italy told me about the bardolino wine festival "festa dell uva" on lake garda first weekend of october. OMG it was the best. rented car from venice, drove to bardolino, about 2 hours or so, reserved hotel nettuno on the lake way ahead of time, parked, dropped luggage and 2 minute walk to entrance, for 15-20 euros bought wine holder necklace. so much bardolino wine, food booths, arts & crafts, grape stomping, music/dancing, fireworks over lake on sunday. cute village to sit, eat, drink and watch people, enjoy the lake views, lots of germans/austrians and talked with them.
getyourguide.com/ lake garda look at wine and food tastings in vineyard
en.duetigarage.com trike rental or guided tour around parts of lake.
if you're there first weekend of oct, reserve room (can cancel) they get to be expensive the longer you wait. take a ferry/hydrofoil ride up the lake to see other towns, main train station is pescheira del garda. verona and vicenza is on train route.
another thing to think about, if you do an overnight somewhere, just overbook that one night pack an overnighter and enjoy.
pack light, no heavy bags, can always sink wash, people not looking if you wore it twice :)
i'll gather a few of my notes and sites you can check out if interested.
aloha

If feasible fly into or out of Florence and Rome. I would sleep in Florence, Siena, various places in the Tuscan countryside plus Rome. Here’s an idea:
Florence – four nights. You want to visit the Uffizi Gallery (buy tickets two months out to guarantee a reservation) and then make your way to Accademia (David).
On day two take a day trip to Venice (2h 15m by direct train) from Firenze (Florence) Santa Maria Novella station to Venezia (Venice) Santa Lucia station. When departing the station go out the main entrance and turn left and follow the crowd to San Marco Square. No need to rush. You will cross over the Rialto Bridge when following the people.
To get back to the train station take a vaporetto (water bus) back to the train station at dusk. This way you won’t see the decay on the gothic palaces that line the Grand Canal and instead you’ll voyeur inside their illuminated foyers, the experience took me back in time.
You can check train schedules and buy your tickets here: https://www.thetrainline.com/. This website will tell you what time the sun sets that day: https://www.timeanddate.com/.
Another day trip could be to Milan (2h). You would need to depart from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Milano Centrale.
The next day take a direct bus to Siena (1h 15m).
Siena – two nights. Il Campo square and the nearby duomo in the old town are ‘do not miss sights”. You also want to sleep in the old town and after dinner stroll Il Campo and ask for a limoncello “to go” (plastic cup) before leaving your restaurant or buy one at an eating establishment at the square.
Day two take a direct train to Montepulciano (1h 15m) for the day, you’ll need to take a taxi to the old town.
Rent a car the following day in Siena but do not get an early start. Drive along the Sienese Crest (scenic road). The clouds lie low here making visibility difficult so wait until noon before getting on the road, this way you’ll see many different landscapes and is why people go to Tuscany.
Drive to Montalcino even though there’s very little to do here. Research wineries in this area before going. When you’re ready to move on drive to Pienza (45-minutes).
Pienza – one night. Make sure you explore the old town before driving to San Gimignano (2h).
San Gimignano – two nights. You don’t need much time to explore here but it is a scenic drive to Volterra for the day (45-minutes).
Drop off rental car in Chiusi (2h) and take a direct train from the Chiusi-Chianciano Terme station to the Roma (Rome) Termini station (1h 30m).
Rome – four nights. Colosseum and be sure to see this illuminated at night, best by taxi. Capitoline Museums, Pantheon and Vatican City (St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican Museum.

I'm thinking I should definitely read one of RS's books to make a list of our must see places. Is the "best of Italy" book my best bet?

That would work!